Brick laying for the Ichabod Plaza began Sept. 21, which marks the beginning of the end of long lasting construction at Morgan Hall.

Faculty members congregated outside to watch Ichabod lay down the first brick to celebrate the beginning of the last week of construction on the site. Ichabod Washburn, the school mascot, attended the event, being as quirky as ever. He kept the energy up, and even put on a tool belt towards the end of the event to show his commitment to getting the plaza finished.

For those who don’t know, the Ichabod Plaza faces the road, and has been under construction since before the beginning of the semester. Washburn faculty will be happy to have this lengthy project done and have worked hard to make Morgan Hall a beautiful place for students and staff.

Kathy Busch, director of communication at the Washburn University Foundation, said that the plaza will hopefully be finished by the end of next week, and at the latest before grand homecoming week.

Busch played a huge role in this project and beamed with pride at the thought of it coming to a close. It was clear that her and other members of Washburn University have worked very hard to make this a special event.

There will be a total of 7,000 bricks at the plaza, 2,000 of which will have names on it. The first brick to be put down at this event had a name on it, symbolizing the importance of the community to Washburn University.

There will be bricks on the ground, with names of alumni, students, faculty, staff, student organizations and other members of the community as well as a seven foot bronze statue of Ichabod Washburn.

Fundraisers limited supplied the bricks. All of the bricks were screened before being ordered in order to ensure that all of the messages were appropriate. Some bricks contain stories about time spent at Washburn, some are memorial bricks, some have names on it and others are simply blank bricks.

On the walkway to the plaza “Non nobis solum” is written on the ground. This is the Washburn motto meaning: “Not for ourselves alone.” This, with the bricks, emphasizes how important community is the university.

Richard Liedtke, executive director of enrollment management, said, “It gives everybody an opportunity for this project in the welcome center…it is going to tell a history of Washburn.”

Liedtke was right in front during the ceremony, shaking Ichabod’s hand and celebrating this moment. His positive attitude was reflected on every member at this event. Though it is only one project on campus, it is something for the school to be proud of, and something that reflects how important individuals are at Washhburn.